WHEN IT comes to national and international coverage, The Cavalier Daily cannot substitute for a newspaper that employs national and international correspondents. This newspaper, written and edited by University students for a University audience, properly focuses on University matters and stories concerning the University's immediate surroundings.
This focus is proper for three main reasons. First, there are plenty of other, easily available sources for national and international news. But those sources provide much less coverage of the University than The Cavalier Daily does.
Second, this newspaper is in a very good position to cover Grounds and Charlottesville, but a much worse position to get the stories the major dailies can get. Indeed, The Cavalier Daily is dependent for the stories on its "Nation and World" page on a wire service from two of the country's biggest newspapers: The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.
And third, the writers and editors of The Cavalier Daily, as University students, have a better grasp of the context of University news than do the people who put out the major dailies, who are not members of the University community. But those journalists have other advantages relevant to other stories.
Why, then, should The Cavalier Daily cover national and international news? Because the same factors that give it an advantage in covering Grounds give it something unique it can bring to national and foreign news.
Because this newspaper's target readership is the University community, it can look at national and international news in that context. The major dailies cannot routinely give special attention to the University context. They must set their priorities and focus their stories according to what's important for the general public to know in order to have an understanding of national and international affairs. The Cavalier Daily can, and should, set its priorities and focus its stories according to what's important for University students and faculty to know -- and, especially, what it's more important for them than for other people to know. After all, this paper's readers can also read the major dailies, and should be encouraged to do so.
The lead story in Monday's paper was an excellent example of what The Cavalier Daily can bring to national news with its own coverage. Major newspapers had already given the changes in the student-loan market substantial coverage, but Maura O'Keefe on this paper's front page brought the issue home to this University, speaking to relevant University officials about the changes' likely effects here.
Veronica Gutierrez, one of the editors of the Nation and World section, told me her section follows the lead of major news sources in picking the wire stories that go onto the page. She said she hadn't considered thinking about The Cavalier Daily's distinctive readership, but she gave several reasons for not tailoring coverage to the University community.
First, the section is limited to what The Post and the Times provide on their wire service. This, she said, may not always include the stories most relevant to the University. In the long run, she said, this problem will be alleviated when the paper switches from the L.A. Times/Washington Post wire to The Associated Press, which has a wider array of stories from which to choose. But in the meantime, I would point out, The Cavalier Daily could still pick the most relevant stories the Times and The Post provide.
Second, she said, many students rely on the Nation and World section for their national and international news. But The Cavalier Daily simply doesn't have enough space to present an adequate collection of stories to replace a major daily; it does have enough space to highlight the news that's especially important for its readers. And even if some readers are only getting the national and international news this paper selects for them, they should get the stories that are most important for them, including those most relevant to their lives.
Third, Gutierrez pointed out that it's easier to follow what other news organizations are doing than to prioritize stories independently. This is all too common a practice among professional journalists. But independent judgment is a virtue that ought to be cultivated, by journalists as well as everyone else -- and in this case, independent judgment would allow The Cavalier Daily to offer a service not available elsewhere, especially once it has The AP's range of stories available to it.
The Cavalier Daily can't cover the world by itself. But it can add to our understanding of national and international stories, and especially to our understanding of how they affect the University and its students, faculty and staff. To do this, it should keep one question in mind in all decisions about non-University news: What can The Cavalier Daily do that The Washington Post can't?
Alexander R. Cohen is The Cavalier Daily's ombudsman. He can be reached at ombud@cavalierdaily.com.
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